Fractured Memories (reupload)
by FantasticNic
Summary: Gray visits his former home with Juvia to decide the next step for their relationship.


Gray paced the worn floorboards of the home he once shared with Juvia during Fairy Tail's disbandment. He had come here to find answers about where his relationship with Juvia was going but instead he seemed dead set on walking a hole in the floor. Gray knew he loved Juvia, he'd have to be an idiot not to know that, but when it comes to what he should do about it he was coming up short.

Juvia had stood by his side since day one, no matter how cold or distant he had been during those times she would simply smile and continue on. A thought crept into the back of Gray's head, hadn't Mira given him something for this trip? He shoved his hand into his back and felt around, a small glass vial slid easily into his hand as if calling to him, pulling it out he glanced at the iridescent violet substance swirling beneath the cork.

Grasping the bottle he tugged gently on the cork, but the small barrier refused to budge. Scowling to himself Gray repeated the gesture with a firmer hold with no avail. Feeling frustration build he gripped the cork between his teeth and wrenched the bottle away with all of his strength. A sudden jolt wracked through Gray's body as the seal gave way and the violet mixture within the bottle slung out across the room spattering the floor with moisture.

Sinking to the floor with his back against the wall Gray spit the cork and gave a defeated sigh. "I guess that didn't work out," he muttered as he let his head smack back against the wall. A shimmery wisp rose from one of the larger drops of potion causing Gray to sit up straight, he began to notice more drifting wisps joining together in elaborate twists and tangles, interlocking and building upon one another until suddenly they stopped and in one quick jerk the shapes took a definite shape and Gray saw himself and Juvia standing before him near the doorway.

The smoke figures began to move, and Gray felt an eerie sensation settle over him as he recognized the motions and realized what he saw before him was a memory. This was the memory of the day they had moved into this house, Juvia stood looking uneasy with her arms wrapped around her body as if she were fighting a chill. Gray saw his memory-self walk slowly around the edge of the room before making the announcement, "This one will do, it is in better shape than the others and closer to the water source." Turning, memory Gray faced Juvia and gave her the smallest brush from his fingers along her arm and said, "I guess it's just us now." Juvia gave a firm nod of determination and the memory shifted into another.

Gray leaned forward to get a better view, seeing his memory more clearly he knew this was from around the time the garden had grown in, Juvia always had a simple flower tucked in her hair during this time, The memory showed Juvia humming to herself making food for whatever meal they were having as Gray's former self came bounding in the door and delivered a small parcel to Juvia. "What is this my darling?" Juvia asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"For you… well I got it but… it's for you though." the memory Gray stammered. Gray watched his awkward interaction and cringed, he remembered this, he had finally broken down and bought Juvia a corset to curb her inherited stripping habit. The first few times he had turned to see a topless Juvia caused him some moral dilemmas and some personal discomfort, so he was really left with no choice. Juvia's fingers nimbly opened the package to reveal the dark blue and green corset and her face showed surprise as she fingered the smooth fabric between her fingers, "Oh Gray-sama, it's beautiful, thank you." she said quietly as the memory burst into wisps only to change once more.

His memory suddenly burst through the door as if it were open, Juvia rushing behind him looking frightened, "What is happening, my darling, are you alright?" Gray noticed the dark marks crawling up the arm and torso of his memory, of course Juvia was concerned, this was the first time the marks really took hold. "Please, Gray-sama, Let me see." her hands grasped his wrist delicately and the dark marks subsided. Gray chuckled, it did seem like her warmth chased the demon slayer markings away. He didn't need those figures to show him all of the times Juvia held his head in her lap and urged him to seek help for his markings, he finally did but of course he didn't tell her because he had to be a stubborn ass. She was always so concerned for him, although he wasn't sure he deserved that.

This time Gray was met with the figure of himself standing in the hallway peering toward Juvia's door, hand poised to knock but he stood stiff as a board. This night, Gray shook his head and screamed at his memory-self, "JUST KNOCK! TELL HER!" tears bit the corners of his eyes, he wishes he could make his past self hear him. This was the night he left, Erza waited for him five miles down the road and when he walked away from their home without telling Juvia he regretted it every step he took further away.

Juvia's figure peered through the wood of her door, it look strange since there was no way to see the memory's door was open. "Good morning, my darling." she called not knowing he had gone during the night. "I'll get breakfast going and then we can try to find a job to stretch us through for a while." Gray had leaned so far forward at this point he almost toppled forward, he decided to stand and found himself skirting the edge of the kitchen to see Juvia better as she hummed a nameless song while she cooked. Gray felt like he could watch her like this forever and just then Juvia flitted off down the hallway to find him missing. Slowly she returned from his room to peer around the house, then step onto the small porch and glance around outside. Her face was blank and pale, her lips pursed together and brows furrowed, every but of her expression reading confusion. As Juvia came back into the house her fingertips trailed the counter tops and table as she murmured barely audible, "no note."

Gray saw the wisp of Juvia disperse and and flow away into her room, he rushed over to sling the door open and see a Juvia taking shape, sitting on the lumpy mattress she had slept on so many long nights. Juvia scribbled in a leather bound journal, he could hear the sound of ink scratched on paper for what seemed like an eternity and he longed to study her face but the dark tresses fell in a way that hid her face to him. Suddenly, her hand snapped the book shut and as she rolled to her side on the bed a long sob erupted from her, hugging the book to her chest she shook with emotion, finally he heard her repeating, "Why did you leave me?" over and over until the wisps all burst into nothingness.

Gray felt broken. This is what he had done to her and she somehow forgave him? He shuffled to her bed and sat, thick dust swirling up against the moonlight streaming in the window. Gray ran his hand over his chin, feeling aged by everything he had just observed. With exhaustion wracking his body he laid back with a flop and his arm struck something beneath the blanket. Shifting the worn quilt to the side Gray saw the worn leather journal resembling the one Juvia had written in and his heart skipped a beat. He knew he shouldn't read her private thoughts, but he found it impossible to stop himself from peering at the pages within, he flipped to her last entry and read the words she wrote.

My darling is still missing, I don't know where he has gone or for what reason but I hope that he is okay. I miss him being here in our home together and I wish that if nothing else we could just go back to the way things were during our earlier time here. I really do not believe he would have left me like this unless it was important but I am beginning to wonder if I am stupid to believe that. I had hoped that with time together in our home Gray would have grown to appreciate me and accept my love but it seems that I was naive to wish such things.

Suddenly Gray knew what he wanted to do, but he did not know if he would be able to accomplish it all on his trip back to Magniolia, to Juvia. He grabbed his bag and dumped his clothing out, he had lost more clothing in worse ways than this but he needed the room in his bags to bring a few things from the house back with him. After about an hour he locked the door and headed toward the closest town to catch a train, at each station he exited and made quick trips through the towns to find items, packing each of them into his bag until reaching his home station and bolting off toward his home where he found a wooden crate big enough to hold the items he carefully gathered.

Inside the guild hall the energy was exciting and chaotic as usual. Gray slowly pushed the doors open and walked in with the wooden crate in his arms. A few members stopped and watched as she approached a table and carefully set the box on top. Turning he scanned the room until he saw Juvia sitting off in the back corner with Gajeel, Levy, and Panther Lily, taking a deep breath he approached the table and extended his hand toward Juvia, "would you come with me, please?" he asked with a clear tone of nervousness in his voice. "Of course, my darling," Juvia replied, taking his hand and allowing herself to be led to the table with the crate.

By this point the guild hall was silent, all eyes were on the couple in the center of the room, Gray motioned toward the crate and said, "I wanted to get something for you, for everything but it's hard for me to know how to do this stuff. I ended up going to the house, OUR house, and let's just say I relived some memories that made me realize something. This is for you Juvia," he nodded, and stepped back to allow her to open the crate.

Juvia carefully removed the top to the crate, inside she saw a collection of things and removed a wooden mixing bowl to examine it more closely. "That," began Gray, "is from our house, you used it for almost every meal in one way or another." Smiling, Juvia set it aside and grabbed the next item, a small burlap sack, "Those are iris bulbs from your garden, the first ones you planted." Carefully placing them on the table she pulled out a sewing kit, "This is new, but to add to yours, you always fix everything even when I think its beyond repair." Blushing she pulled another item, "That is tea, from Clover, the mint apple one you like." The duo continued on like this for a few more minutes and the last item in the crate was a tiny carved wooden box with a sliding top, Juvia slid it carefully open and saw the silver key inside, "Juvia, I know it's not going to be possible to relive our life in our home from before, but if you're ready I'd like you to move in with me here and try to start again."

Juvia gasped, "You want us to live together again?" she asked timidly afraid she had somehow misunderstood.

"Yes, I want to do it better this time, I won't always do things exactly right but I promise I will try." Gray ruffled the back of his hair nervously.

"Yes! Of course I want to move in Gray!" Juvia screamed as she wrapped him in a tight hug, causing him to blush and press a small kiss to the top of her head. Once Juvia moved on to squealing her excitement to the other guild members Gray approached the bar to fetch some drinks, and saw Mira smiling. "I guess you figured out what the next step was for you and Juvia?"

"Yes," he sighed, "Thanks for the potion, I had to see some hard things but I learned a lot."

"Anytime," Mira smiled, "But I don't think you'll need it again"


End file.
